National Shooting Trials: Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar Betters World Record, Leads India's Paris Olympic Games Qualification Race

Ace Indian marksman Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar produced a sensational series of precision shootings during the national trials in Bhopal on Monday. The 23-year-old from Khargone in Madhya Pradesh registered a combined score of 466.4 in the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event final and bettered the world record. (More Sports News)

The current world record belongs to Jiri Privratsky of the Czech Republic, who shot 466.1 at the ISSF Baku World Championship in Azerbaijan last year -- a score much lower than the qualification world record currently held by China's Linshu Du at the 2023 Asian Shooting Championship in Changwon, South Korea in November, an event which was eventually won by Tomar.

Tomar, India’s most successful shooter at the 2022 Asian Games, currently leads the NRAI’s Qualification Ranking for the Olympic Games (QROG) list in the 50m rifle 3 positions. He won two gold, one silver and one bronze at the delayed Hangzhou Asiad last year. The Madhya Pradesh shooter was also part of the Indian team that won the 50m rifle 3 positions gold in the 2023 World Championships.

Thanks to his recent performances, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar has presented himself with a golden chance to represent the country at the Paris Olympic Games 2024. Each country can enter a maximum of two shooters in each of the individual events, and a maximum of two mixed teams in team events.

The other shooters in contention to represent India in the men's 50m rifle 3 positions at the Paris Olympics are Railway pair Swapnil Suresh Kusale and Akhil Sheoran, Army men Chain Singh and Nishan Budha, Navy's Niraj Kumar, West Bengal's Adriyan Karmakar, etc.

In the Bhopal trials held at the MP State Shooting Academy ranges, Niraj Kumar came second while Tomar's team-mate Goldie Gurjar third.

Conducted by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI), the Bhopal trials feature Group A shooters. The list of shooters who can participate in the final selection trials, however, will be based on the February 29 rankings. As things stand, the country's top five shooters in each event will earn the right to compete in the final selection trials.

India are all set to send its biggest Olympic shooting contingent at the Paris Games. The country has so far secured 19 of the possible 24 quotas. The previous high was 15 at the Tokyo Olympics. Shooting events at the National Shooting Center, Chateauroux will take place from July 27 to August 5, 2024.

What is 50m Rifle 3 Positions

In this rifle event, shooters shoot at the target from three different positions -- kneeling, prone and standing -- within a timeframe of two hours and 45 minutes.